Review by Marlene Engel
Faye’s
life is quickly upended when her husband takes off on a road trip and never
returns, leaving her to care for their three children and move in with her
mother until she can get back on her feet.
While looking for a job at the mall, her four year old daughter is
discovered, so to speak. And so begins
the whirlwind of ups and downs that’s associated with childhood stardom.
Now
Faye and her children and plunged into the life of fame and money, but also the
dangers that come along with it. And at
what cost is she willing to feed her child to the sharks? She’s not sure who she can trust and even
wonders if she can trust herself.
We all
hear stories of rags to riches or people coming into money/fame/etc and the
effects it has on not only them, but their family. Many are willing to sell their soul for five
minutes of fame, but what if it was your child?
Could you handle going from little to a lot practically overnight and
not allow it to consume you? We would
all like to say we could, but do you really know until you’re thrust into that
world?
The
author brings us a story that takes us through so many emotions and forces us
to think. The ‘what ifs’ and ‘what would
I dos’ were constantly at the forefront of my mind as I read this book. Another brilliant novel by Suzanne Redfearn
that I would recommend to all.
Purchase
the book at:
“12 Things about Suzanne”
1. One of my bucket list goals is to
see a game in every Major League Baseball park with my daughter before I’m
sixty. There are thirty stadiums in eighteen states and Canada. So far we’ve
been to eight.
2. I’m addicted to Sudoku. There’s
something so satisfying about figuring it out. I love the absoluteness of
knowing I got something perfectly right (so unlike writing where nothing is
ever perfect).
3. I was on a game show called Brain
Surge with my daughter. We won the first round then got flushed down the Brain
Drain in the next round.
4. I invented shoelaces called Wonder
Laces. They are a better shoelace—healthier for your feet, more comfortable,
and they have six times the knot strength of normal shoelaces. They are sold on
the internet.
5. My secret guilty pleasure is
watching cheesy reality television with my kids. I especially love Survivor and
Are You the One (so bad, it’s irresistibly good).
6. I had no idea I wanted to be a
writer. I sat down to write down an idea that I thought might make a good story
(after a couple of glasses of wine with a girlfriend), and the words poured out
of me faster than I could type. The writing was terrible, but the plot and
characters were cool. Seven months later I had my first novel and I was hooked.
It was an amazing discovery, like figuring out you could play the piano without
ever before having touched a key. That first novel got me my agent, but it was
my fifth novel, HUSH LITTLE BABY, that got published.
7. Be careful what you say around me. A
lot of the ideas in my stories come from my experiences. My friends and family
are starting to realize that—if it’s interesting, there’s a good chance it will
end up in my next book.
8. I am a geek and a dabbler.
Everything interests me a little bit, so I am constantly trying things and
getting half-good at them before I get distracted and start dabbling in
something else. I dabble in painting, surfing, SUP-ing, kickboxing, yoga, golfing,
gardening, and inventing. I am also one of those annoying people that actually
stops to read the information signs on monuments and landmarks. I can’t help
it, minutia fascinates me.
9. I write in my car. It is strange but
effective. There are no distractions and it is oddly comfortable. I sit with a
Mead notebook and write stream of consciousness then type it into my computer
when I get home.
10. I can sing all the words to the
theme song of Gilligan’s Island. “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a
tale of a fateful trip…”
11. My favorite word is serendipity. My
favorite book is THE POWER OF ONE by Bryce Courtenay. My favorite movie is
Forrest Gump.
12. I have an amazing husband, two
amazing kids, an amazing dog named Cooper…and a not so amazing cat named Motley,
but we love her anyways.
About the Author:
Suzanne Redfearn was born
and raised on the east coast and moved to California when she was fifteen. She
currently lives in Laguna Beach with her husband and two kids where they own a
restaurant called Lumberyard. Her debut novel HUSH LITTLE BABY was chosen as a
Target Recommends selection and RT Book Reviews nominated as Best Mainstream
Fiction for 2013. Prior to becoming an author, Suzanne was an architect
specializing in residential and commercial design. In her free time she likes
to watch baseball, hang out with her kids, play golf, surf, and ski.
Connect with the author at:
Grand Central Publishing is giving
one lucky winner a print copy of
No Ordinary Life by Suzanne Redfearn
a Rafflecopter giveaway
